Service With a Smile
by Araius
Summary: Karkat is a loner college kid finding solace in a coffee shop when he is verbally attacked by a blond hipster. With no one to rant to about the incident, he turns to his best friend-who just happens to be an internet anon. /complete
1. Chapter 1

**Service With a Smile**

"Mocha, lots of ice..none of that fruity whip cream shit. Thanks."

"Would that be a carmel mocha or-"

"A fucking _mocha _mocha. _Thanks._"

No tip for her. He would pay only what the coffee cost.

Karkat stared into the small jar of tips, sitting on the counter with its low amount of change. He looked up at the girl taking his order, her sparkly green eyes hidden behind pathetic, giant, round glasses.

Whatever.

Not like she was pretty under all that nerd.

After paying her, he had a second thought and casually slipped a dollar into the change jar. He walked to the other side of the counter to await his order. As he left, he heard the customer behind him hitting on the nerd girl.

"Hey girl, how you doing tonight. That lame kid ahead of me weren't treating you too bad was he? Ahh yeah service with a smile, babe...that's the way to do it."

Go figure. This fucking town. Full of nerdy girls and sarcastic hipsters.

Whatever.

Karkat picked up his coffee from the end of the counter, took his receipt and exited the coffee shop. If that kid wanted to start shit with him, he sure as hell wasn't letting it happen. He'd just have to drink is "mocha" flavored mocha on the curb.

So he sat there, sipping at the cool beverage (why the fuck did he order it iced?! It was fucking raining outside! At least he had the cover of the coffee shop's roof.) and staring into the sky, watching the clouds cry into the street, where the reflection of the nearby stores would play rainbows in the puddles.

All in all, today had been an okay day.

He had gotten up, gone to his classes and come home to play some computer games and work on his writing. After having hit a writer's block (usual around this time of evening) he decided he needed some coffee to get him going. And why not walk down to get some?

Because nerdy idiot girls.

And blond sarcastic hipster kids.

That was why.

Fuck this place; time to leave.

Karkat scowled, standing abruptly and spilling his coffee down the front of his hoodie.

"God fucking dam-"

He looked around for something to wipe himself off with. Unfortunately, the only thing he could think of to use would be a napkin from the coffee shop. And the idea of going inside, covered in his own mocha, didn't sound so appealing.

But what choice did he have?

With a sigh, he begrudgingly stomped inside, avoiding the gaze of fellow night owls and college students. As the men's room sign came into view, Karkat was called out to.

"Hey emo kid! Heard you were giving that girl up at the counter some shit?"

A chorus of laughs rang around a small table closest to the bathrooms.

Karkat glowered.

And he had almost made it, too. Go figure this shit would happen. Karkat wasn't allowed to have good days. It went against the laws of nature.

So here it was, karma in all his blond haired, 80's sweatered glory. Staring up at him through dark shades and a sly half crooked smile.

The cancer had dealt with many types of karma.

But never one that made his heart stop and cut off his ability to think of comebacks so sick they would start fires and throw irons into said flames.

No this karma was different.

And it had friends.

One boy in a cool blue hoodie sat to the hipster's left, Karkat's right. He had ravened colored hair and a goofy smile. But his eyes seemed to shine with a sugar-coated menace.

Another boy sat to the blonde's right. He seemed very tall and bore striking resemblance to the hipster himself. Karkat figured they were related some way, if not brothers.

"We have to catch that flick. Have fun with whatever, Dave." The boy in blue spoke up, chuckling.

Both boys on either side of the hipster stood and grabbed their drinks, exiting the coffee shop. On their way out, they laughed together, striking up some irrelevant conversation involving puppet themed movies or some shit.

Karkat looked down at his sweat shirt. The shit was probably already stained; light grey didn't do so well in the washer. He took another step towards the rest room.

"Sit."

The casual way this "Dave" hipster demanded him to sit down made Karkat's skin crawl. This boy had practice. He knew how to scare someone.

Without putting much thought into it (other than that he was scared shitless by this point) Karkat sat down across from the blond.

"No. Next to me. I want you to hear me real well."

The messy haired teen stood, anger rising.

Just who the fuck did this kid think he was, telling him to sit. And why the fuck was he listening to the scumbag in the first place.

"Fuck you, man. You don't even fucking know me! Do you see this fucking sweater?! It's probably ruined because of you and your group of idiots calling after me like some retarded middle class white guy who lost his kid's dog in the middle of Central Park. Good luck with that one, jackass. Ain't no park rangers helping you out this time. This fucking puppy's gone."

After a moment of stunned silence, Dave grinned like a cat.

Karkat flipped him off, turning on his heal and heading, once a-FUCKING-gain, to the bathroom.

"Hey wait! Seriously sit down. You're cool, it's cool, bro."

"Jesus fucking Christ, let me get some goddamn napkins first will you?!"

The hipster grinned, holding up a small pile of napkins he had most likely been given with his order of donuts and black coffee. Interrogations and black coffee? Who the fuck was this kid, anyway? A cop?

What the fuck ever. Napkins were napkins.

That was the only reason he walked back to the table and sat next to the kid.

For the fucking napkins.

That was it.

As soon as his ass made contact with the booth seat, the cancer grabbed the napkins from Dave's grip, wiping at his hoodie.

The hipster kid watched him wipe at the stain.

"Fuck it's not gonna...it won't come out...dammit." Karkat threw the used napkins on the table and sunk further into his seat.

His last unstained hoodie.

Dammit, he didn't have the money for this shit.

"Damn you're just having a bad day, aren't you?" The hipster's Southern accent surprised Karkat enough that his eyes flickered to the boy's shades. He hadn't noticed it before. Regardless, he was irritated and so not interested in what he had to say. Even if Hipster Dude looked slightly more sympathetic than before. He hoped he would lose his ability to talk. Ha. Fat chance.

"I mean...I get that, man. But you don't have to be up and takin' it all out on the pretty girl behind the counter, do ya? What the hell did she ever do to you?"

Oh this shit, again. He thought the dumbass was done trying to scold him on his lack of manners.

"Fuck this." Karkat stood, brushing off his skinny jeans. "I'm leaving, I don't have to take this shit. Thanks for the napkins, asshole."

"I'll buy you a new sweat shirt."

The words shocked the cancer. He turned to the other boy, a question forming on his lips.

With visible strain, he stomped down his question and scowled at the boy, throwing a napkin in his face before picking up the kid's coffee and dumping it down the hipster's sweater.

"NO! It's fucking fine now see?! Just look! WE'RE EVEN!"

The cancer stomped out of the shop, ignoring the stares and yells from the other customers as he headed into the rain soaked night.


	2. Chapter 2

Karkat rolled on to his back, staring at the ceiling.

He couldn't sleep.

The sound of rain pounded against his bedroom window, a slow melody that normally would help him right along to dream land.

Rainy nights were actully some of the only nights he ever fucking slept.

Not tonight, though.

Too many emotions ran though his mind, each with their own curse of memories and thoughts.

Guilt for one. After all, he had dumped hot coffee on a hipster kid who (other than not minding his own fucking buisness) hadn't done anything wrong.

On the other hand, the idiot could have ignored him, let him hurry to the bathroom to take off and clean his sweat shirt before it was too late.

He had cost him his last clean hoodie.

It was all band tees now. And in this weather? That was gonna be hell.

Besides, he was fairly certain the fucker had a milion "ironic" sweaters.

Wasn't his fault the hipster got what was coming to him.

Also wasn't his fault that Karkat had spilled his own coffee down his own hoodie.

"HEEEEEEEEEERGH"

The cancer grabbed his pillow to his face and growled, rolling onto his side.

He'd never win this battle against himself.

Best to just sleep the feels off.

Grumbling, he got out of bed, rubbing at his eyes and headed towards his small kitchen.

His apartment wasn't much, but it was fine for him. He was lucky enough that his crabby father was paying for his rent, just to keep his own kid out of his house. That was luck to Karkat, anyway.

Reaching the kitchen, he turned on the light and pulled open the drawer under the microwave. A small container of sleeping pills rolled towards him and he picked it up, emptying two into his hand.

God how he hated taking these little shits. All they did was knock him out for twenty hours, so when he finally did wake up, he was left with an aching body and ten minutes to get to class.

But sometimes it was worth it not to think so much.

He grabbed a plastic cup from one of the many cupboards (for a small apartment, he sure had a fuckton of cupboards) and filled it with water at the sink. Taking a drink, he swallowed the two pills and threw the cup in the sink, turning out the light and heading back to his bedroom.

He lay down, clutching his pillow tightly to his chest, trying not to sob. It was pathetic how weak he was. He tried to act tough, but it was all just word vomit. In reality, he was nothing but an insomniac, paid to stay away from his family and attending college only because it gave his life some sort of meaning.

His vision began to blur and he closed his eyes, trying to shoo away any thoughts of the hipster kid. But the blond kept popping back into his mind. His Southern drawl and his gauges. His oversized, now ruined, sweater. And his light hair, that almost seemed to lay like feathers in the way it was cut and thinned. And his grin. God, his grin.

"Service with a smile."

The words came back to Karkat and he frowned, falling into dark dreams.


	3. Chapter 3

Karkat awoke to the sound of birds chirpping. The annoying shits had made a nest directly above his bedroom window.

"UGH!" He grabbed onto his sheets, pulling them above his head and whimpering at the light streaming in from his window.

Wait.

Light?

"Fuck!"

The cancer jumped from his bed and grabbed mindlessly at his bedside table. Finding his alarm clock (useless piece of shit) he held it up, squinting, trying to make out the numbers.

2:00 PM

_Shit_.

He had missed all of his classes but the last half of one. No point in going to school now. Fuck that shit. His throbbing temple didn't approve anyway.

With much effort, he crawled from his bed and onto the floor, reaching around for his jeans. Finding them, he stood (carefully, as not to black out under the heavy weight of hunger) and pulled them on, not bothering to buttom or zip them.

The cancer shivered, the cold air hitting his bare chest as he grabbed at a sweat shirt on the floor.

He had tugged it half way over his head before the smell hit him.

Mocha.

"God fucking dammit!" Karkat threw the stained sweater in his laundry bin and settled for a Panic At The Disco shirt instead. He'd just have to deal with the cold.

Humming to himself, he set down his short hallway, past the livingroom and into the kitchen, where he collapsed against the table.

God, his fucking head hurt.

He so did _not _want to make food.

Standing again, he headed for the cupboards, looking for something simple to throw in a bowl and devour. But all he could find was a box of pathetic, off brand fruit snacks.

He glared at the box, hoping it would turn into something partially edible.

Like instant ramen. He'd even take ramen.

After more cupboard searching/glaring, Karkat settled for a can of tomato soup. The shit was good enough.

As he sat at his table, sipping on processed fruit-vegtable-things, he processed the events of the previous evening.

After sleep, Karkat always seemed to have a cleared head, so the emotions of the night before had lost some of their colors. However, he was still pretty pissed about the loss of his last sweater. Especially considering he really didn't want to have to ask his father for some extra allowance. The man wanted nothing to do with the cancer.

Red eyes stared blankly at the last spoonful of tomato. He had used water to cook it (instead of the recomended milk, having had none) and really didn't feel like eating more than neccasary to keep himself living.

He dumped the rest of the soup into a small jar and placed it in the fridge, leaving the kitchen.

Entering the living room, he took in his surroundings. Desk, desk chair, couch, 90's television. No cat to be found. He figured it was hiding somewhere, per usual. He honestly didn't even know why he cared about the fucker when all it did was sneak in and out of his windows, with the occasional stop in his kitchen to eat some dollar store cat food.

Whatever.

He collapsed in his desk chair, turning on his slightly out of date computer. Luckily his father had agreed to pay for high speed internet, as long as Karkat never came to another family dinner. And hey, that was fine with him.

His wallpaper lit up the dark living room (no windows in the main room? cliche piece of shit apartment) and Karkat clicked his email service. One new message.

Karkat had no doubt who the message would be from. Weeks back, he had needed new shit for his "collection." Of course, the first place to go would be the good old 4chan boards. However, he hadn't anticipated exchanging emails with an anon. Either way, he had made friends of some sort with the dude, and he figured it was harmless to further converse with him.

He was just glad that no one else from the board had tried to contact him.

Karkat opened the email, scanning it, a grin forming on his pale lips.

"hey man how you been keepin up its been a while message me"

It was nice to have friends of some sort.

Friends.

Karkat felt himself constantly highlighting the word "friends" in his head. There was no fucking way he had a crush on some kid, who was most likely fat and living in his mom's house, with an action figure collection the size of Karkat's living room. No fucking chance.

Besides, this kid probably lived half way across the country.

"I've been fine. Oh yeah, sept for the other day when I ran into some COMPLETE IDIOT. I'll tell you more about it later. I have too much coding shit to do today to be stressing myself out with memories of him and his douchey smile."

It seemed like only 30 seconds after Karkat hit enter that he got a reply.

"so what about this idiot was he cute"

The cancer sat back in his chair, scowling at the screen.

Oh fuck him for instantly getting to the source of all of Karkat's problems. Fucking anons.

"FUCK YOU MAN. How is it you always fucking do that? Weird ass mind reading shit. You should take up a job as a dial up psyscic. Put those powers to good use. Talking to women about who they should have sex with or whatever. The gardener or the milk man? What a great fucking job to have. I mean if you're old enough to have a job in the first fucking place."

"oh sweetie your rambling again"

"Fuck you."

"so this boy?"

"Oh look, you used a question mark. Shit just got serious. FUCK YOU MAN."

"jesus fucking christ bro calm your tits look i have to get back to work my lunch break is almost over"

"Oh so you ARE old enough to fucking work."

"course man what do you think i am a 12 year old"

"Kinda."

"ive told you already im 19 "

"Sure, that's what they ALL say."

"haha whatever ttyl prick"

"Dido, dickhead."

They always ended conversations like that. As if they didn't like each other.

When in reality, he was something like Karkat's friend.

His only friend.

And it was some anonymus douche from a 4chan board.

Karkat sighed, suddenly bored with his computer. He'd code later.

In the meantime, a nap sounded wonderful.


	4. Chapter 4

**I read over Chapter 3 last night and noticed spelling errors up the ass. Sorry guys, I'll get those fixed. You know good old Ari; can't spell shit.**

"Meeeew!"

Karkat covered his ears with his pillow.

"Mearggh!"

He rolled onto his stomach, further drawing the covers over his head.

"Brrr-row!"

"GOD DAMN CAT FUCK FINE!" The brunette threw his sheets to the side and followed the meows to the kitchen.

Fucking cat. Waking him up at god knew what hour.

"Shit..." The hiss escaped his lips as he swung around in search of his cell. He spotted it on his dining table.

He flipped the phone open and stared at the screen. It was a little past eight. Jesus he had slept forever. It was already dark outside.

"Meeewrgh!"

With a sigh, Karkat grabbed the small bag of cat food off of the fridge. Everything was irratating him, and the least he could do was illiminate the main problem.

"Here, now shut the fuck up." The cancer poured a rationed amount into the small dish labeled "Nep."

Karkat had named his pet after an old childhood friend. Nepeta had always been strange, not like the other girls her age. So it only made sense that she would befriend the other "weird" kid in their class, said child being Karkat. They had a lot of fun together.

As a matter of fact, Nepeta was the first person he had trusted with his secret.

She had taken it so easily, never missed a beat. Just smiled and hugged him.

It was a shame she had to move away in freshmen year. If she had stayed, he was sure high school wouldn't have been so bad.

He often wondered what she had gotten up to. Did she work? Was she in college?

Karkat observed the kitten as it ate. He frowned.

Maybe it was a bit odd to name his cat after an old best friend.

Maybe he was obsessive.

Or just lonely?

He wasn't sure which was worse.

Hugging himself (it was fucking cold) Karkat headed to his living room and sat at his computer screen. A quick push of a button, and he was alerted to the fact that he had a message.

"Go figure. Dude wants my nuts." He absently mumbled to himself as he opened up the email and read over it.

"sup bro just got off work bet youre sleeping again"

"Yeah sure. All I do is sleep. That's fact. I don't even get out of bed to piss anymore. I just use one of those hospital issued-WHAT THE FUCK AM I SAYING?"

"too much is what"

"Shut up. Man, honestly I'm groggy as fuck. I think I'm going to go get a coffee."

"ahh there you go again avoiding me"

"Shut up."

"i just want to know about this 'COMPLETE IDIOT' as you put it"

"Dude I'll tell you when I get back. At least let me get a fucking mocha-mocha."

"mocha-mocha what"

"Nevermind, ignore that."

"whatever bro...hey im gonna get a coffee too so meet back here pretty soon yeah"

"Yeah."

Karkat put his computer on sleep and headed towards his front door. Reaching the dingy welcome mat, he kneeled, pulling on his supras. Even they weren't looking too good. But fuck if he was going to be able to afford to replace his supras. Ha fat fucking chance. He'd have to stop eating for a couple of months.

Nep walked into the living room. Spotting Karkat, she ran to meet his feet, curling her long tail around him.

He smile, patting her head before standing up to open the door.

On his way out, he grabbed his house key, locking the door behind him.

The air was chilly and it looked like rain.

Luckily, Karkat had dug a long sleeved turtle neck from the depths of his dresser before his nap. It kept most of the chill out.

Not as much as his fucking hoodie.

But he'd have to deal.

He looked into the dark sky once again before shoving his key into the back pocket of his skinnys and heading towards the coffee shop, hoping beyond hope that the blond hipster wouldn't make a reappearance.


	5. Chapter 5

**I figure maybe I should make author notes or something. But I don't have any notes for today, so I'll just sit here, waiting for my pot of coffee to get done, and stare at the screen with an evil smile twisted on my features.**

Karkat stepped into the coffee shop, the smell of mocha hitting him hard. He took a deep breathe, momentarily closing his eyes to better take it all in. After a moment, he looked around the shop.

No hipster kid.

Good.

Unfortunately he did not have "aaaaaaaall the luck" as the geeky waitress was still working the night shift.Tonight, however, she was on the floor, cleaning tables and sweeping the marble tiles.

He stepped past her and she turned to him, a bright smile on her pink lips. As she processed his face, the smile dimmed until she was glaring.

The cancer scoffed, glaring back. But the waitress had grown bored of the game, and quickly turned to face the other direction, fist tightly clenching her broom.

So much for the professionalism of yesterday. Her grudge seemed delayed; almost as if it grew out of thin air.

As it usually did with girls his age.

Karkat grinned.

Reaching the customer line, he looked behind him just in time to see the hipster enter the shop.

"God dammit..." Karkat quietly, shrinking into his oversized turtleneck.

The blond didn't seem to notice him, too preoccupied with the young waitress.

"Sup, Jade."

The geeky girl smiled, winking at him before her smile grew cold and she gave a subtle (NOT) nod in Karkat's direction.

The cancer spun on his heel looking ahead of him, begging god for this one favor of not being seen.

His scarlet eyes scanned the front of the shop for some sort of escape. Nothing.

"Hey, I know you!" The mocking voice was right in his left ear. It sent chills down his spine and it was all Karkat could do not to jump out of his skin. He turned, already knowing who would be looming over him.

Apparently god was too fucking busy that day to give a shit about the well-being of Karkat.

"Oh it's just YOU. Color me not giving a fuck." The cancer crossed his arms over his chest, looking to the side, trying to appear nonchalant and failing miserably.

A quizzical expression hit the blonde's features for only a moment before it went back to its default poker face setting. He stared down the smaller boy, until he spoke up, not being able to take the scrutiny on the hipster's face.

"What?! For god sakes what the fuck do you want?! I ruined your sweater, you ruined mine. Now you can leave me the fuck alone."

Scarlet eyes met cold glass and Dave snickered.

"You don't even know me."

The reply shocked Karkat for only a moment before he spoke up.

"Yeah, well...I know you enough."

"Yeah totally. We go so far fucking back man."

"You KNOW what I fucking mean."

The cancer turned back towards the front of the room, eyeing the menu; trying to distract himself from the ever irritating presence of the blonde. But Karkat couldn't keep his mind off of him. Something about the hipster was so familiar. As if he had known him for longer than two days.

"What's your name again?"

The hipster stared down at the messy haired boy, shock mirrored on both of their faces. Karkat couldn't believe he had bothered to even ask. Why did he care anyway?

"Dave, yo. And yours, Mr. Jackass?"

"Fuck you, it's _Karkat_."

"What the fuck? Your name is so weird." The small boy's cheeks heated and he turned away from the laughing Dave.

"Whoa man, calm down. I'm laughing _with_ you."

"I'm not even fucking laughing!"

The cancer finally reached the front of the line. Today a large native man with long hair was working the counter. He seemed nervous.

"Hello. What may I serve you?" His voice was quiet, but deep. Each word seemed forced, as if he really did not want to be working in a coffee shop.

"A mocha. No whip cream. Thanks."

The transaction went over smoothly and Karkat paid, stepping out of the line to pick up his coffee. He ignored Dave's eyes following him to the pick-up line, and out of the shop.

Fuck that kid.

Acting as if Karkat hadn't totally burned the fucker the night before.

Literally.

He walked home quickly in the newly falling rain, drinking his entire coffee on the way. As he unlocked his front door, Nep followed him inside, immediately hiding under the couch.

He sighed, closing the door behind himself.

Turning on his computer, Karkat snuggled, with a furry blanket, into the chair. The chance of him falling asleep at his desk was high. Might as well get comfy.

"I'm back. That complete fucking LOSER hipster kid was there AGAIN."

The reply took a lot longer than Karkat expected. He had begun to messily code a block of html when his computer beeped.

New message.

He opened it, eyes trailing across the screen, before typing out his own reply.

"sorry i stayed a while later...trouble in kansas dorthy lost goddamn toto again"

"Yeah I'm totally following this shit."

"nothin bro just a lot of fine ass/suspicious characters round my coffee house"

"These fine asses belonging to said suspicious characters?"

"exactly"

"Whatever, you're needlessly CONFUSING AS HELL. Per fucking USUAL."

"bro what crawled up your ass and died"

"That's a pretty fucking CLICHE sentence shining above this one. Just look at that shit. Ain't nothing hipster about those fucking red letters."

"oh man youre right im a failure excuse me while i commit suicide"

The words hit Karkat a little too hard. The boy thought about the sentence, wondering what it would be like if his anon went through with it. Just never logged on again.

If Karkat lost his only friend.

The cancer heard another beep and realized that Anon had caught on to his hesitation to reply.

"im sorry i didnt pour salt in a wound did i"

"No. I'm fine, just figuring out this coding shit."

"oh okay just makin sure bro anyway what about this idiot"

"Oh yeah. The fucking asshole was there."

"haha whats he like"

"Fat and obviously gay as hell."

"come on"

"Okay FUCK FINE. He's pretty...attractive. BUT LIKE I COULD GIVE TWO DAMNS."

"you totally give a damn you give so much of a damn about this kid that the damn had an asexual party and suddenly BAM two damns bro"

"FUCK YOU"

"gladly"

"Shut the hell up, you know that is never going to fucking happen."

"LOL"

"IF THAT REPLY IS MORE OF YOUR IRONY SHIT I AM GOING TO TURN THIS FUCKING COMPUTER OFF RIGHT NOW, I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD ANON."

"anon"

Karkat looked at the screen, blankly.

"Well you never gave me a stupid fucking name."

The was a short reply in which Karkat fidgeted nervously, hoping he hadn't somehow upset him.

_Beep._

"just call me strider cause i fuckin stride"

"Oh so that's why your email is StridingStrider165?"

"shut the fuck up i made it when i was twelve and kept that shit for the ironies"

"Yeah sure WHAT THE FUCK EVER. Anyway don't know why I didn't think of calling you by your email."

"give me your name"

"..."

"ha i bet its something stupid as hell like doug"

"..."

"dougs a pretty fucking stupid ass name"

"..." Karkat added more periods of no speech, irritation growing as he stared at the screen.

"oh shit your names doug isnt it"

"NO ITS NOT FUCKING DOUG."

"than what the hells the problemo seniorita"

Karkat ignored the butchered Spanish (insults or not, 'Strider' still sucked at the language) and typed back quickly, fingers pounding into the keys.

"JUST FUCKING"

"CALL ME"

"IDEFK"

"KK"

"what dude makin no sense over there"

"CALL ME 'KK'"

"oh ok sure thing kk..."

"Why '...'?"

"doug would have been better for ironic reasons"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP"

Karkat spent the rest of the night talking over different types of names with Strider. The conversation eventually turned away from coffee shops and names and blended into video games they had played recently and ways to pick up dates, which (they grudgingly admitted) neither of them would ever have a chance to use.

Before long Karkat was snoozing at his desk, the bright screen blinking as Strider sent his last message for the night.

"you fucking fell asleep didnt you"

Karkat snored softly.

"night kid"

The IM closed, instantly sending the last message to his inbox.

The cancer would see it when he woke up.

Karkat snuggled into his blanket further, rapping it around his face like a lion's main as his computer screen slowly faded to black in hibernation.


	6. Chapter 6

Karkat rolled onto his back, letting the other boy pin him against the cream colored sheets. The cancer reached up, meeting the boy's mouth with his own. They laid there for a while, kissing slowly before Dave attempted to pick up speed.

Feeling irritated by the change in pace, Karkat pulled away, grimacing. The blond only smiled and laughed, playfully nipping at Karkat's neck and blowing in his ear.

The cancer sighed softly, wrapping his arms around the hipster. A thought occurred to him and he pulled away slightly to make eye contact with the other boy. He slowly reached up, taking ahold of the hipster's shades. He pulled them off of Dave's face.

His eyes were beautiful. A color that constantly changed, but still lovely.

Hazel, blue, brown, gold...scarlet. Which one was it? Karkat glared, wanting the constant colors to stop shifting.

"Anon?" The blond asked, the word sounding so loud in such a quiet room.

The cancer's eyebrows knitted in frustration, a feeling of guilt washing over him.

"I...didn't know what to call you." Karkat tried to justify it, but Dave wasn't having it. He got up and left Karkat on the pale sheets, his aviators in Karkat's hands.

"You can keep the shades. You only want the mask, anyway."

Karkat woke with a start. He had fallen asleep at his desk, again.

"...the mask..." The messy haired teen mumbled to himself, trying to make sense of his dream, trying to grasp at some long forgotten realization. But his mind had gone fuzzy, the dream all but fading into nothingness.

Karkat grumbled.

Just a stupid fucking dream anyway.

He turned on his monitor, finding that he had a new message. He read over it, grimacing.

"He knows me too well."

After once again logging off, he stood, stretching.

He'd woken up early for once, and he didn't have any classes today, so he figured he would go grocery shopping.

Especially considering his fridge was fresh out of everything nutritional. He still had a small bag of chocolate chips. But that shit was nasty. Too many sweet things and he would feel that creeping up nausea.

Never fun for anyone aboard that train ride.

Four years prior, at a school potluck with Nepeta, he had eaten too much cake. Almost immediately afterward he had puked it all back up in the bathroom. Nep had helped him clean himself up, then offered him a ride home and a place to stay for the night. Her mother had picked them both up and let them chill in Nepeta's bedroom. But before any RPs could be started or video games could be played, Karkat had showered, brushed his teeth and passed out curled up next to his best friend. She'd let him sleep, petting his hair much like a mother would their child.

Karkat went through the motions of getting ready. He fed Nep, showered and dressed, grabbed his key. Eventually he was ready to leave.

"Hey jackass, I'll be shopping today so don't bother messaging me until tonight. Later, loser."

With his last message, the cancer shut down his computer (for the millionth fucking time that day) and headed to his local Safeway.

A million isles and a cold-as-fucking-hell temperature. Yeah this was Safeway alright. The brunette walked shelf to shelf, isle to isle, picking up store-brand items and solving mental math problems.

Shopping was always annoying for Karkat in that he had no idea what he was looking for half the time and had a habit of talking to himself in grocery stores, gaining odd looks from other customers ("I just need some fucking milk. And cheese. And maybe bread? God fucking dammit I left the list on the fridge!")

An isle filled to the brim with gross ass cereal and oatmeal came into Karkat's view. Although he hated the overly processed wheat shit, someone in the isle caught his eye.

"Ms. Leijon?"

The small Asian woman looked up from the Frosted Flakes box she currently held. A look of confusing flickered across her features before realization surfaced.

"K...Karkat?" Said boy grinned.

"Who the hell else would it be?" He asked in a teasing tone.

"Oh you silly boy! You know I've told you not to curse!" The small lady dropped the box into her basket and stepped closer to Karkat, giving him a firm one-armed hug. "I just moved back to my home town and boy am I glad to have a welcome comity."

The cancer smiled, his hopes slowly rising at the woman's next words.

"You know how much I missed you, dear? And Nepeta, too. Gosh she missed you so much. I swear she must have been in love with you. You really should get together with her sometime. Have lunch and talk. It's been so long!"

"Nep-is she in town?"

Ms. leijon grinned like a cat, a certain hint of a secret in the smile she flashed him.

"Oh no, no. Karkat...Nepeta is getting married in New York! Real nice guy, really rich and high up on the social latter." She winked.

His heart stopped. The smile on his lips slowly faded until he was left staring down at the floor, trying to push away the lump in his throat.

"Dear?" Ms. leijon sensed something was wrong. She had always known when something was wrong.

"I..." He was on his best behavior around Nepeta's mother. She was like family to him. Family that he hadn't seen for years. And showing any weakness at all would definitely affect the older woman's mood. She would blame herself for separating the boy from her daughter. She most likely already did.

Reaching up to grace cold fingertips along his neck, he forced a smile.

He was not going to fuck this one up.

"Yeah, I'm okay. My throat gave out for a second."

"Okay, just making sure you weren't having a hard time with the news." A frown pulled at her lips.

"No-NO. It's wonderful."

Fucking wonderful.

Everything he wanted to hear.

The kind of iron he wanted in all of his raging ass fires.

Ms. leijon smiled, gave him her number and hugged him once more before leaving Karkat to pick out his favorite brand of processed wheat foods.

Corn Flakes or Cheerios?

Karkat kicked a lone box lying on the floor.

He didn't want any fucking cereal.

He didn't want any new food.

He would have been perfectly fucking fine with the old food.

But just like best friends, food always seemed to disappear.

And any such necessity had to be restocked.

Otherwise Karkat would die.


	7. Chapter 7

**I was given really nice reviews, thank you guys. **

He stumbled home in the rain, bags weighing down his arms as he tried in vain not to sob.

Shit, like he could even stop himself.

His entire life was a fucking sob story.

Karkat reached his dingy front steps. He placed the three bags of groceries down and fished his apartment key from the pocket of his (coffee stained) hoodie.

After letting himself in and putting away the groceries, Karkat shuffled to his bedroom.

The shopping and random trips (mostly consisting of picking up books for class and paying a couple of bills) had taken him a lot less time than he thought they would so he had a couple of hours to kill before Strider would be online to vent to.

He had told Strider not to message him until later because he hadn't wanted the (apparent) 19 year old wasting his lunch break on someone who wasn't home.

But now he wished he hadn't said anything.

Strider surely would have messaged him, giving the cancer an excuse to write back to him about his shitty cliché-teen life problems.

Now Karkat was left with too much time on his hands. He'd wait until Strider got off of work to bring up the subject.

In the meantime, he figured he would go and get a bag of coffee from the shop. He had a small coffee maker and realized he might want to buy a bag of the stuff to fill the machine, especially considering he could see himself hermiting and feeling very sorry for himself for the next couple of weeks.

Crying himself to sleep, working on horrible written codes that wouldn't work no matter how much shit he tried to fix, avoiding a majority of his classes, drinking caffeine until his head spun and sleeping, sleeping, sleeping. He could see himself doing those things. But trips to the coffee shop?

Ha ha.

No.

He might as well get a huge ass bag.

The biggest one they sold.

Because this douche was not leaving his house unless he had to.

So he walked through the rain to the shop.

He walked in and checked his cell for the time as he did so. The cell was a piece of shit. It's caps lock wasn't functioning correctly and he could only type in caps. And for the cherry on top; it was only good for texting and checking the clock. Considering he had no one to text, he mostly used it as a watch.

Ahh midafternoon.

Well he had killed a lot of time.

But it was still only Strider's lunch break.

He wondered if the boy ate at work or not. He had often told Karkat about a shop close to his work place, but the cancer had never thought to ask how often he frequented it.

"Are you just going to stand there and text all day?"

The voice was right in his ear, loud and bitchy. Karkat looked up, scarlet eyes meeting jade green ones.

The waitress from before stood in front of him, wearing casual clothing and holding a purse and a mocha.

He fumbled, shoving the phone into the pocket of his oversized, stained hoodie. He had been so lost in thought that he had forgotten to _stop_ checking the time.

Fucking amazing skills right there.

"I bet it was something porno related, huh? Sexting with _strangers_. Aint no way you'd get a real girl with manners like yours."

The look on Karkat's face assured the girl that she had hit some sort of soft spot and she gave him a frown before turning awkwardly and walking towards the front of the shop, ignoring the cancer's intense glares.

"Why are you even dressed casual!? Don't you work all the damn time?" Goddamit he was asking stupid questions today.

She turned around to face him. Her eyes narrowed behind the sparkle of her round frames.

"I'm on lunch break, what the fuck else?"

The girl's eyes crept down the front of Karkat's hoodie and she frowned, a flash of guilt weighing on her feature.

"I'm just shopping." She sighed, speaking quieter than before.

"Oh well, I am too so move the fuck over. I have some coffee to buy." The cancer moved past the girl, making a show of grabbing the biggest bag of coffee on the rack (along with a box of filters) and going to the counter to pay.

After he had everything he had come for, he walked towards the exit, turning to look back at her only once. The girl was talking at the counter with the tall native from the night before. Karkat assumed the man was the boss as he seemed to work here more than any of the others did.

For only a second, their eyes met. She appeared to glare at him before her eyes once again flickered down to the stain on his jacket. On a second thought, she offered him an apologetic smile.

He'd be damned if he'd take that shit.

Karkat avoided her gaze, looking to the floor until he was fairly certain she had dragged her eyes back to her boss.

Without hesitation he got the fuck out of the shop, mentally nicknaming it "Hell's CS" as he let the glass door close behind him.

God this town needed more cafes.


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you for so many follows/faves. Also, the reviews really keep me going.**

**You guys are awesome.**

**I may not update as often as I was before due to my senior year having started but I'll still keep this going for you all. **

**Short chapter is short, sorry guys.**

**I don't own Homestuck. **

"are you okay" the words flashed onto Karkat's screen and he grimaced.

No he was not fucking okay. 'Okay' was not even on that ships radar anymore. And how could it be when the radar was no longer working due to the ship having gone down in a splash of fire and oil.

Tonight was simply not his night. And venting didn't sound like much fun anymore.

Strider had worked later than usual and left the cancer alone to pace his house and drink coffee.

By this point, Karkat wasn't feeling like talking about anything related to Nepeta. He was even avoiding his cat.

"I'm FINE. STOP ASKING DAMMIT."

"whoa sorry for assuming you werent okay just because of excessive caps and aggressive one word replies"

"SIGH. FINE."

"fine what"

Karkat glanced at his computer screen, summoning the words.

Fuck this was hard.

"I'll tell you what's wrong. But only if you tell me something."

"shoot kid"

The cancer thought long and hard. He wanted to ask him a question. But he couldn't place his finger on exactly what he wanted to know.

Stupid ass question-block.

A thought hit Karkat and he typed quickly, pressing enter before he could stop himself.

Re-reading his reply, he cringed at the typos and the nerve that he seemed to have randomly pulled out of his ass.

"FUCK o k so what the hel do you look like?!"

"ok*, hell*"

There was a long pause before his reply.

_Beep._

A link appeared.

Karkat's heart sped up as he copied the link (erasing the spaces, as links usually didn't go through on this shitty ass messenger) and clicked enter.

Son of a bitch.

Mother fucker set him up.

"whAT THE FUCK STRIDER?"

"crows are my spirit animal"

"THIS IS A SHITTY MS PAINT DRAWING OF A BIRD"

"what the fuck else did you expect from the mac daddy of irony"

"Oh I don't know maybe a fuCKING PICTURE OF YOURSELF."

"nah bro cant do that im not sure if youre some crazy axe murderer or not"

"Then why don't we just fucking meet up irl some time?"

There was a long pause while Strider typed and Karkat stared at his screen in shock.

Had he really just asked this asshole anon to meet in person?

Strider would probably decline. Than log off and leave Karkat to his own devices.

The cancer brought his knees to his chest, the office chair creaking in protest of the extra weight. He buried his Auburn eyes in the material of his pants and tried to process what losing Strider would mean.

Just another internet asshole.

_Beep._

Some random loser he'd met online.

_Beep._

Who knew all of his secrets.

_Beep._

And actually seemed to care.

_Beep._

Karkat reluctantly looked up from his self pity palace to the screen, preparing for the worse.

What he saw made his eyes widen.

"im game"

"where do you live"

"yo"

"bro someone needs sleep"

Karkat quickly typed a reply, hoping Strider wouldn't go offline.

"Where the hell do you live?"

"oh shit the princess has awoken"

"Strider."

"i just moved to this rainy ass place called washington"

Karkat's heart skipped a beat and he sat in a trance-like state, staring at his screen.

"heard of it or are you an internationalfag"

Trance broken, he typed quickly.

"Holy shit."

"what"

"I live in Washing ton hOLY SHIT"

"whoa whoa what really man"

"REALLY."

"i call bullshit"

"NO FOR FUCKING REAL!"

"oh shit where"

The caner paused. Should he really tell him what town? Yes he told him most things but when it came to personal shit, prior to tonight, they had seemed to have an unspoken rule that neither revealed much.

And was it really safe?

"I'll tell you if you show me your face. I don't care how godawful you look. I don't care if you're some FATASS in his mother's basement who hides bodies in the attic. I don't care how many pimples you have or wether you have a habit of popping them. Show me YOUR STUPID FUCKING FACE and I'll tell you where I live."

Strider typed as Karkat processed what he was asking for.

_Beep._

"you got yourself a deal kid"


	9. Chapter 9

**Man I think I got the flu or some shit but the reviews I got...just wow you guys have no idea how much they mean to me...jesus...they made me feel better hah**

**Shout out to Gamz for bringing me chicken noodle the other day.**

**Without that soup, I probably wouldn't be able to write this chapter for you guys.**

**/exaggeration**

**I don't own Homestuck.**

"you got yourself a deal kid"

Karkat stared at his screen, blankly.

Breaking from his trance, he typed then pressed enter, watching his reply appear.

"Hold on."

He stood from his desk chair and ran to the kitchen, almost tripping over Nep on the way.

Beep.

He could hear the alert of Strider's reply from where he stood in front of his stove.

Something to drink, something to drink.

Fuck.

He wasn't even thirsty. He'd already had a gallon of caffeine and now he was losing his mind, caught between dancing and running around like a crazy person. Obviously the second one was winning.

He took a deep breath, running a hand through spiky brown locks and headed back to the living room.

His screen showed nothing special; Strider had merely complied with Karkat's leaving and gone back to doing whatever else he had to do.

After a minute or two of Karkat swiveling around in circles in his chair, he finally got up enough nerve to go back to the chat.

"I'm back, fucker."

"you never told me what was wrong"

The cancer scowled, hoping he had forgotten. Nope. This guy never forgot shit.

"Oh excuse me I didn't tell you all about my fucking business. OOPS."

"come on dude"

He sighed, hands against his cheeks; palms feeling how cold his skin was. He had been crying earlier.

"My friend…my old friend…she got married."

A long pause left Karkat biting his nails.

No.

Fuck that.

He forced himself to put his hands in his lap.

He would remain composed. Who gave a fuck what this anon thought.

Why the hell should he hang on his every word like some sad school girl wanting "senpai" to notice her.

Fuck that shit.

A thought like electricity passed through him, along with a tug at his memory.

Who else had this affect on him?

It felt like he was forgetting something.

Beep.

The sound interrupted his thought process. He opened the message again, reading the reply once.

Twice.

Three times.

"man tough break but hey you always got me"

He knew it was a smartass comment.

But it still made his heart miss a beat.

"Yeah whatever. That ain't much, asshole."

But it was.

"so you want to see this fine ass of mine or what"

"No. Not at fucking all. OF COURSE IDIOT."

It seemed to be hours before Strider messaged him.

"fuck"

"What?"

"bad news"

"…"

"dont you dot dot dot me babe"

"DON'T FUCKING CALL ME THAT. What is this bad news?!"

"i cant take pics right now"

"….."

"my apologies little lady but this cowboy aint got no horse"

"English, Strider!"

"left my cell at work"

"What? Why?!"

"didnt do it on purpose asshat and look ill have it back by tomorrow"

"Well there isn't anything you can fucking do about it now."

"speaking of tomorrow this sexy boy needs to crash out ill talk to you later emo kid"

"Oh shut the fuck up and go to bed."

"hah okay"

"Night, Strider."

Karkat logged off and sighed, his heart rate slowing.

This shit would wreck him.


	10. Chapter 10

**Whoops that last chapter was short. Here, have another chapter. **

**I don't own Homestuck**

The next morning, Karkat awoke early and went to his classes, hurrying home with the intent of turning on his computer and staring at his screen until Strider came off idle chat.

He ran through his front door like a bat out of hell, keys in hand, Nep at his side.

This fucker better post something tonight.

Making his way to the kitchen, he was shocked to find that he was out of coffee.

Fuck.

He had drank it all.

In such a short amount of time, too.

The thought hit him and he momentarily feared for his safety.

The fear was lost when someone knocked on his door. It was a UPS guy.

"Delivery for a...Kar..kat..Vantas?" The chubby man looked up at the cancer, his small beard twitching.

"Me. Where the hell do I sign?"

"Here..and here."

He scribbled quickly and was handed a small box. It was from a New York address. Curiosity kicked in and he ripped it open, slamming the door on the little man behind him.

"Are..you fucking kidding me?"

It was a mug.

A coffee cup that said "I love New York" on it.

There was a small note with an invite to Nepeta's wedding stating that "in the spirit of things" it was to be an "I love New York" themed wedding.

Wonderful.

Fucking wonderful.

Count this fucker out.

He thought about throwing the mug away. But he couldn't bring himself to do it.

After all, Nepeta had taken the time to send it.

Or maybe her mother had reminded her.

Who fucking cared.

Nice cup. He'd drink coffee out of the shit.

After setting it on the counter and making a mental note to go get some more coffee later, he sat down at his desk hoping Strider was online. Conveniently enough, he was greeted by two new messages, mere minutes old.

"well it wasnt at work so im pretty sure dat shit is at the coffee shop"

"going there now ill be back soon kk"

Well fuck.

He might as well go pick up some coffee himself, while he waited.

In his current state, it was probably the worst fucking idea ever to run out and not restock asap.

He headed to the coffee shop.

Once there, Karkat made his way over to the stand of different coffee types. Last time he had picked the biggest fanciest blend. No wonder he had run out of this shit so quickly. It was delicious.

He grabbed another bag of the same blend and turned on his heel, ready to get home when he suddenly came face to face with the one person he did not care to see. Ever.

Hipster kid grinned down at him.

"Hey, kid."

The cancer was not going to take this shit today.

"Get the hell out of my way!" He attempted to push him aside, but the hipster would not budge.

Instead he leaned down close to the smaller boy and pushed up his shades, making eye contact.

Karkat couldn't breathe.

What.

The.

Actual.

Fuck.

His yes were red. Crimson and bright. Shocking even.

They matched the brunettes, only they seemed to burn...desire?

Karkat couldn't be sure. He'd lost all ability to reason.

That became even more evident when the hipster asked him a question, barely above a whisper.

"Lets hang?"

Karkat must have lost his fucking mind. He must have thrown out all logic and instead dumped a cold bucket of frozen fish in the space it had once been.

Because he said yes.


	11. Chapter 11

**Gosh thank you for all the reviews, you guys are so lovely~**

**And CrowsGurl drew me the cutest fanart on dA oh my god I can't asdfghjkl;**

**I hope this works: (slash) ?qh=§ion;=&q=hang+dave+karkat+lets#/d5fhk8o**

**And the comments on it were soooo encouraging, too. I guess I hadn't realized that so many read my fic? Wowzy wow you are all the best!**

**oh p.s.**

**Please excuse me while I knudge you, wink, and whisper, "my tumblr is strifestuck" shamelessly. **

**Cough**

**I do not own Homestuck.**

**Second to last chapter here we goooooo...**

"Why are you fucking following me?!"

Karkat attempted to walk faster, but the rain was getting in his eyes, soaking his hair. It was far too cold to be pulling a stunt like _running._

He clutched his bag of coffee closer, avoiding eye contact with the blonde trailing behind him. The asshole had followed him all the way from the coffee shop.

"You said we could hang."

The cancer resisted the urge to punch the hipster in his mouth.

"Yeah that totally means follow me home!"

"I was shocked to see you at the shop."

The scentence caught Karkat off gaurd and he momentarily stopped walking to let the blonde catch up with him.

The hipster kid wasn't even out of breath and here Karkat was gasping for it. He scowled bitterly to himself.

This week had been fucking wonderful.

In the back of his mind, he wondered if Strider was online again.

"You aint there too often."

"Yeah well wonder why..."

"Too sad, man?"

What a weird ass thing to say.

Karkat ignored it.

The cool kid walked beside Karkat at a steady pace, both staying quiet. Focusing on things other than eachother until they reached the cancer's front door.

Karkat looked to his side, hoping that by some fucking miracle, the blonde had decided to leave him alone.

But there he stood in all his scarlet eyed glory, his hair damp from the rain and jacket zipped only half way up.

The cancer realized he was staring and turned to find his keys quickly. His hand slipped a few times but he eventually got the key in the lock, opening the door, wide.

God this weather...he really needed gloves.

"Brrrow."

"Fuck off, Nep!" Karkat walked past the kitten; Dave closed the door and followed behind, stopping to pat a timid Nep behind the ears. Then continue into Karkat's kitchen.

The angry boy was slamming around mugs and running water. He paused, 'I Love NY' mug in hand and glared as a small realization occured.

Why the fuck had this hipster been in the shop if he hadn't bought anything? Normally people left with a cup of coffee, or a bag.

God forbid he was trying to get hired there.

"Did you do anything at the coffee place? Other than loiter and creep on me, I mean."

"Watcha mean?"

"You aren't...trying to get a stupid ass job there, right?"

For some reason the thought of the blonde constantly being in the company of nerdy girl made his stomach turn.

He pushed the thought down and pressed on.

"Well?!"

Hipster kid looked oddly uncomfortable. Had Karkat some how hit a soft spot?

As if in defeat, the blonde reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He held it at head level and put on a grin.

"Had to get my phone."

Karkat stared, trying to process his answer. Had to get his phone?

The older boy realized Karkat was confused; the grin left his face.

"Let me elaborate."

He opened his cell and typed something, hitting enter and placing it back in his coat pocket.

There was a moment of silence while the cancer stared at him, waiting for him to go on.

"Well then fucking talk-"

Before Karkat could finish his demand, he was cut off by a sound he knew well.

_Beep._

The hipster looked over his shoulder, towards the noise. Shock settled into a large smile and he looked back to the cancer, mouthing the words, _I knew it._

"Figures the volume would be up."

Wait, knew _what_? Volume? What fucking volume? The hipster's phone volume or..?

The cancer couldn't be bothered with figuring that out. But for a second he was torn.

He could keep talking to this boy and figure out why the fuck he was being so weird...or answer Strider?

The blonde, in an act of what appeared to be some sort of twisted desperation, ripped off his shades and glowered at the smaller boy, moving so he stood close to him.

What, whoa, why was he getting so close?

Karkat's face heated and he raised his free hand, ready to push the boy away.

Phone.

_Had to get his phone._

The coffee mug Nepeta had given him shattered on the tile flooring in pieces and Karkat stood in shocked silence, staring into the eyes of his anon.

Something in the look of desperation on Dave's face made the cancer's razinolization snap and he propelled his body forward, if only to reach the cool kids level.

His heart pounded in his ears as he clenched his fist.

Their lips brushed and Karkat heard a small sob, startled to realize it was his own.

Need and want had built up over these long months and it was all he could do to not break; shatter on the floor of his kitchen, much like Nepeta's cup.

But Dave held him together, one hand tangled in his hair, the other around his waist.

Karkat silently prayed he wouldn't let go.


	12. Chapter 12

**I am so sorry for how late/short this chapter is. However, there is good news: I'll be continuing this story for much longer than I intended. I'm hoping to make this at least a 20 chapter fic.**

**Please enjoy this shitty chapter.**

**I don't own Homestuck...**

Dave pushed Karkat into the counter, grinding down his hips, Karkat's moan ringing in his ears like fucking harmony.

He'd waited too long for this shit. Weeks of knowing exactly who the lonely boy at the coffee shop was.

He'd connected the dots, but the idea of bringing it up in casual conversation seemed ridiculous.

"Hey bro, I'm that fag you've been talking with online and it turns out I un-ironically love you so lets makeout."

Didn't come off too well.

Karkat pulled away and stared up, embarrasment sprinkling across his cheeks.

"Holy shit youre bleeding."

The words didn't make sense and the hipster furrowed his brows in contemplation.

_Wait what?_

"Your cheek asshole!" The cancer reached up and rubbed at a spot on Dave's face, where a piece of stray porceline must have made contact. "Jesus fuckin christ I'm sorry ahh fuck"

Karkat pulled away and spun around, searching for his broom and a rag for Dave. However, the full extent of his current situation seemed to strike him in the gut and he sat down on the tile floor abruptly.

"Holy shit holy shit holy shit..." He put his head in his hands and skooted back, avoiding more shards of coffee mug. "I'm so sorry man auuugh fuck me."

"It's just a cut, yo."

"NO, not THAT. FUCK! I'm fucking stupid."

Dave stood silently, waiting for the cancer to elaborate.

"I just kissed you randomly and wow you must wonder what the fuck is wrong with me and I can't even explain because I'll look more pathetic and to top it off you must have fucking known this entire time and I just fucking called you names and avoided you and FUCK I...I.." He cut himself off, choking back a sob. "I don't even have anyone anymore. My dad fucking disowned me and now look what I just did, I fucked up so bad just now."

"What the fuck are you talkin about? Just shut up."

Dave leaned down and reached out to Karkat, lifting his chin with one finger until he held his gaze.

"You ain't stupid." He brushed his lips along the smaller boy's.

There was no way in sam hell he was going to lose this kid.

Not after all that shit he just went through to get to him in the first place.

Pulling apart, he grinned down at Karkat.

"How about some sex?"


	13. Chapter 13

**I'm sorry this is late omg but I'm writing like 3 fics and asdfghjkjhgf im kind of in the Soul Eater fandom now too asdfgh anyway, please enjoy and I hope it isn't too ooc.**

"What the actual fuck?! GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME!" Karkat moved abruptly, pushing Dave back.

His abscense of shades left his face full of emotion. Karkat surveyed him from a distance, reading him intently.

Of course it was a fucking joke.

He sighed, shaking his head.

"Sorry."

"Why?" Dave looked up, curious.

"It was a joke and I attacked you.."

"You didn't attack me. You pushed me. No big deal."

A soft silence fell over the two. After 30 seconds of standing and staring at his hands, Karkat sat down on the tile floor. He crossed his legs and rolled up the sleeves of his hoodie.

Dave sat down with him as the cancer pushed the larger pieces of the coffee mug into a small pile. After a moment of surveying the scene, Dave began to help, scooting bits and pieces to the middle.

Both boys slowly worked at cleaning up the mess, not speaking.

Once in a while their hands would brush, causing Karkat to jump, but otherwise ignore the sensation it sent through him.

"I never thought I'd see you, Strider." Dave paused, looking up at the smaller boy. But Karkat was avoiding eye contact.

"I'm..sorry." The cool kid turned scarlet, trying not to show how mad he was at himself. He didn't need to go out of his way to tease the other boy. Play the fool and attack the kid in a coffee shop.

"Why?" Karkat asked.

Just Dave's fucking luck. Now he had to explain his apology.

"Its pretty fucked up that I didn't tell you sooner."

The cancer just shook his head, standing and dumping the shards in his kitchen garbage.

"How would you have even fucking explained?" His scarlet eyes trailed up the blonde's chest to meet his gaze. "Look at me, I'm that anon from 4chan?"

A tense silence invaded the room before Karkat giggled. He fucking _giggled._

Before long, Dave was laughing away with him.

"I thought you were some fatass kid living in his mom's basement!"

"Fuck you!"

The laughter continued until Dave abruptly stopped it by catching Karkat in a kiss.

Pulling away, he beamed at him.

"How about a date?"

Karkat grimaced.

Dave's smile fell.

"A date sounds cliche. Don't ask me on a date, idiot."

The blonde was thoughtful for a moment before replying.

"Go on a date with me, douche bag."

"Fuck, fine."

The cancer smiled before leaning in for another kiss.


	14. Epilogue

**Sorry to end this so abruptly, but I felt you all at least deserved a last chapter. Regardless of me no longer being in the fandom, you all still really supported this fic and that was so amazing of you. Long live DaveKat!~**

**xxAri**

**I don't own anything.**

* * *

Epilogue

"Waiter. Excuse me." Karkat tapped his fork loudly on his plate. "WAITER!"

the man in question almost dropped his tray.

"Y-yes sir?" He asked, eyes narrowing at the two men seated together at a couple's table.

"Can we get bottle of wine."

"You are underage, Sir."

Karkat scowled and flipped him off, standing and motioning for Dave to follow him.

"Fuck this place."

The two left in a hurry.

"So did ya enjoy the..er...date?" Dave laughed.

"Fancy restruants are stupid as fuck." Karkat paused as Dave nodded. "But yes."

It was still odd to be on a date with hipster douche of all people. It was even more weird to know that he was his anon friend.

"Do you want to go somewhere cool?" The abscence of shades made Dave's excitement very visable.

"No, not to a bed."

Dave's face dropped.

"Where then?"

Karkat scowled and grabbed his hand, walking briskly down the front stairs of the diner and into the ope street.

"Lets go to a park."

Dave grinned, "And then maybe to my place?"

"Ha sure, asshole."

Dave's hand felt warm in Karkat's grip.

And in that moment he didn't care what his family thought of his taste in dating. He didn't care about his father. All he cared about was Dave.


End file.
